First Quarter Financial Report

By Elka Malkis, Financial Manager

Sales for the first quarter (July to September) of the fiscal year were $9,721,544. This is a 1.6 percent decrease from the previous year. Our average daily customer count has been running the same as last year, but the average transaction size (called "average basket" in grocery-store lingo) has been a little lower than the previous year since last February.

Our "cost of the goods" this quarter was 64.9 percent of sales, a small decrease compared to last year. Cost of goods is the amount we pay to suppliers for our products. The next largest expense is always payroll (wages, benefits and taxes), which came to 24.8 percent of sales this quarter. After paying our suppliers and staff, we have 10.3 percent left to pay all other costs.

Because we own our building outright, our building expenses are low. This account covers repairs and maintenance on the building, utilities, property tax and trash. In the first quarter they were 2.4 percent of sales, the same as last year.

Operating expenses were 5.1 percent of sales. This includes telephone, equipment repairs, credit card fees, store supplies and many more things. We show lower expenses here than last year, primarily because we finally got paid for a lot of manufacturer's coupons we sent in for reimbursement months earlier.

Administration, governance, and promotions came to 3 percent of sales. We show member discounts here, the newsletter, CPA and legal fees, board expenses, advertising, office supplies and food donated to the food shelves.

We paid $98,000 in estimated taxes, which was 1 percent of sales.

This quarter's profit is $183,703, or 1.9 percent. It's not as high as what we posted most quarters over the past few years. But, given the national economy, we are pleased to have done this well.